STRESS, ANXIETY, & TRAUMA
Signs your child may have challenges with Stress or Anxiety
(including, but not limited to):
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Behavioral challenges
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Somatic complaints (stomach aches or headaches)
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Poor sleep patterns
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Difficulty concentrating
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Develops a nervous habit, such as nail biting
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Refuses to go to school or gets into trouble at school
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Changes in behaviors
What is it?
We all experience different levels of stress in our lives. Stress experiences can occur in utero, shortly after birth, and throughout our lifetime. Sometimes a stress experience can be so impactful that it can cause lasting trauma for a child.
The list of possible stress and trauma experiences are innumerable, and the impact of an event will depend on a child’s previous experiences and how he perceives the current stress.
When a child experiences a stressful or traumatic event (a changing home environment, bullying at school, separation from a birth parent, death of a loved one, medical intervention or emergency, abuse, loss of a pet, etc.) this causes his nervous system to release neurochemicals that trigger the fight-or-flight response.
Stressful events can cause a child to have anxiety about specific people, events, or environments, or cause anxiety throughout his day.
OUR APPROACH
At Leaps and Bounds, we recognize that a child’s stress, anxiety and trauma experiences are contributors to his ability to process sensation, therefore impacting his reactions to situations and his behaviors throughout the day. Our goal is to provide a comprehensive program to address not only the current sensory processing challenges, but also the underlying nervous system responses.
